Chapter 269: The Children Aren’t Mine
This novel is translated and hosted on BCatranslation
“Ugh!”
Lu Yuan Ze threw off the blanket in shock, stumbling back as he turned to vomit. The sight before him was so horrifying that his whole body shook with fear.
[How did it come to this?]
Panic coursed through Lu Yuan Ze as he stared at the awful scene in front of him. His eyes were locked on the elderly woman lying in the bed, her body a terrifying sight.
“Mother, why is your flesh rotting like this? I’m so sorry, Mother. This is all my fault,” he stuttered, too scared to get any closer.
The old lady’s arm looked terrible—her skin was dark and decaying, and there were white maggots crawling under the rotting flesh. The mattress under her was stained black, and the air was thick with a sickening smell. Yellowish pus was oozing from the ulcers on her back.
She inwardly cried out, her eyes filled with sadness. [Why wouldn’t her son come closer? Why wouldn’t he care for her?]
[If only Shi Yun was still here—Shi Yun from that noble family, who took such good care of me. If I had even a little cold, she would stay up all night, washing my feet and looking after me. If I felt bad, she would comfort me. If I was hungry, she would cook for me, even burning her own hands to make sure I was okay.]
[It’s all my fault,] the old lady thought to herself. [I was blind to people’s true natures. Now I’ve ruined myself and everyone around me.]
“That cursed woman! She’s been running the house and treating my mother like this!” Lu Yuan Ze’s eyes were filled with rage.
He could hardly stand to look at his mother. Her skin was barely holding together.
No wonder they said she was always so angry, crying and screaming day and night.
She had truly been suffering.
Tears rolled down Lu Yuan Ze’s face as he stared at the maggots squirming in her flesh, sending a deep chill through him.
“P-Pei… wicked… wicked…” the old lady muttered through clenched teeth, her face twisted in pain. She tried to warn her son.
She had plotted carefully, even almost causing Madam Xu’s death, all to make sure Pei Jiao Jiao would have a rightful place in the family. Yet, her plans had only brought this wicked woman into their home!
“Mother, what are you trying to tell me? Should I call a doctor?” Lu Yuan Ze asked, his voice heavy with worry.
The old lady shook her head and grabbed his hand, desperate. “Pe… Person…” she gasped, her eyes wide with fear, her trembling finger pointing toward the small Buddhist hall.
Lu Yuan Xi, that cursed child born to a servant!
Lady Qiao, that tricky maid, was supposed to help her gain favor, but she ended up pregnant!
Now, that illegitimate child had brought shame to her son!
The old lady deeply regretted her choices in the past.
[The Lu family is going to fall like this!]
Lu Yuan Ze bit his lip, his jaw clenched tight. “Mother, I’ll check the hall.”
“I’ll be back soon,” he promised, his face serious as he rushed toward the small Buddhist hall.
Madam Pei, as arrogant as ever, probably thought that since Lu Yuan Ze hadn’t been involved in household matters and hadn’t been to Deshan Hall in two months, she could do whatever she wanted.
She ignored the old lady’s cries entirely. Instead, she sneered, “That old hag is crying again, hoping her son will come to see her.” Madam Pei leaned against a man’s chest, lazily twirling a strand of his black hair.
A sly smile spread across Lu Yuan Xi’s face. “Does she think Lu Yuan Ze is some kind of saint? He’s heartless, selfish, and greedy. He hasn’t visited his sick mother in two months, yet he thinks he’s a hero.”
Madam Pei rolled her eyes. “That old woman is never happy. Does she think I’m dumb like Madam Xu?”
“I’m not a fool like Madam Xu, waiting on her like a servant.”
“She cries all day—it’s driving me crazy. I need to make her mute so she can’t spill our secrets. I’m constantly on edge, afraid she’ll blurt them out,” Madam Pei said, her voice cold and harsh.
Lu Yuan Xi chuckled softly. “No need to go that far. Just make her drink a pot of boiling water—that’ll burn her voice out…”
“That’s right,” Madam Pei replied with a twisted grin.
“That old woman keeps calling me her niece, saying she should treat me well. Ha! And yet she left me as nothing more than a secret mistress!”
“The Marquis’s household is full of wealth, yet she left me to suffer. Is that what she calls care?”
“If she really cared, she would’ve let Madam Xu die so I could have married in properly,” Madam Pei said, her face dark with bitterness.
The man beside her pinched her cheek playfully. “You’ve still got that fiery spirit. Lu Yuan Ze even got rid of his own sons and daughter to raise our child…”
Before he could finish—
Bang!!
Lu Yuan Ze burst through the door with a powerful kick.
His eyes were bloodshot, his body trembling with uncontrollable rage. His face twisted into a snarl, veins bulging on his forehead.
Pointing directly at Madam Pei, he shouted, “You shameless woman! Pei Jiao Jiao, how dare you betray me?!”
“You fool!” Overcome with fury, Lu Yuan Ze charged forward.
He grabbed Madam Pei by her hair, dragging her naked body across the floor.
“Ah! Brother Xi, save me!” Madam Pei screamed as her body hit the cold ground.
Lu Yuan Xi’s face turned pale, and he quickly headed for the door.
The servants had already alerted the guards outside.
“Catch the cheater! There’s a big reward!” Lu Yuan Ze yelled, spurring the guards into action.
Clutching Madam Pei’s hair, Lu Yuan Ze pulled so hard it looked like her scalp might tear.
“Ah, it hurts…” Madam Pei cried out in pain.
“Hurt? You still feel pain, you witch? How dare you betray me?” Lu Yuan Ze was consumed by rage.
For Madam Pei, for what he thought were his children, he had driven away Lu Yan Shu, Lu Zheng Yue, Lu Yuan Xiao, and even little Chao Chao.
He had put all his hopes on Lu Jing Huai and Lu Jing Yao!
He had given up everything just to have them acknowledged as his rightful heirs!
But now… Lu Jing Huai and Lu Jing Yao aren’t his children?
“You’re telling me they aren’t my blood?!” He slapped Madam Pei, his eyes wide with fury.
“You brought a fake monk, that scoundrel, into my house? How long have you been lying to me?” Lu Yuan Ze’s chest heaved, the taste of blood in his mouth making his rage boil over.
The thought of how long Madam Pei had deceived him was unbearable.
He remembered how he once admired her for her devotion in the small Buddhist hall, and his anger grew even more.
“How could you do this to me? I left my wife and children for you—how could you betray me?” The idea that Madam Pei would cheat had never even crossed his mind.
“Bah!” Madam Pei spat a mouthful of bloody spit in his face. Her eyes burned with hatred.
“And you think you’re any better? You talk of betrayal?” Madam Pei scoffed.
“You said you loved me but kept me hidden, never giving me a proper title. You lived in luxury in the Marquis’s mansion, while I had to hide. Why?!”
Madam Pei laughed bitterly, the façade coming off to reveal her true self.
“You threw away your wife of eighteen years and even tried to kill her! You are the most selfish and wicked man in the world!” Another tooth fell from Madam Pei’s mouth, knocked loose by Lu Yuan Ze’s rough treatment.
“Bring the scoundrel and the maid here!” Lu Yuan Ze ordered, trying to keep his anger in check.
Neither of the children bore his blood.
Just thinking about it made his skin crawl.